Grocery shopping plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy diet, and making the right choices can significantly impact your overall well-being. Trader Joe’s is a favorite for many health-conscious shoppers, offering a wide array of options, from nutrition staples to tempting indulgences.
However, not all items are created equal. While there are plenty of healthy choices to support your goals, there are also some products you might want to skip.
Reneé Moussa, a functional health practitioner who specializes in hormone, thyroid, and gut imbalance, recently shared the items you should avoid when shopping at Trader Joe’s.
1. Avoid Almond Beverage
Renee says to avoid buying this non-dairy beverage because although it is marketed to seem healthy, there is a “high possibility of strong pesticide exposure.”
2. Vegetable Fried Rice
This option could be great for those nights where you don’t have much time to make dinner from scratch, but Renee suggests avoiding it because of its inflammatory ingredients and high sugar content.
Canola oil is considered inflammatory and not a healthy source of oil, and she also notes that this fried rice contains “4 grams of sugar per cup.”
3. Cage-Free Eggs
The term “cage-free” only means hens aren’t confined to small cages. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are pasture-raised or fed a high-quality diet. Some cage-free hens may still be kept in crowded indoor spaces and fed low-quality feed, which can impact the nutritional profile of their eggs.
4. Non-Dairy Oat Beverage
Another beverage to add to the “avoid” list is the non-dairy oat beverage. Renee cites the “possible heavy glyphosate exposure sprayed oats,” and also the fact that it “spikes blood sugar like crazy.”
5. Almond Vanilla Beverage
Don’t be fooled by this unsweetened beverage. Renee says it “has natural flavors, which is an umbrella term for what could be thousands of chemicals.”
6. Golden Rounds Crackers
These crackers are no better than the original Ritz. Although they contain no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, they shouldn’t be a snack you can endlessly munch on just because of smart marketing.
7. Ridge Cut Potato Chips
While the sea salt is a better addition than regular salt, Renee says the canola oil is why you should steer clear of these chips at Trader Joe’s. Its important to read the ingredients list so you avoid inflammatory foods.
Other foods/items on the list she suggests to avoid are Impossible chicken nuggets, Gone Banana banana slices, Coconut body butter, Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce (even the organic version because it contains soybean oil).
